


If You Ever Want To Be In Love (I'll Come Around)

by gingertintedglasses, LadyAngelique



Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Barista Steve Rogers, Bisexual Steve Rogers, M/M, MJ is a sassy gift, Mechanic Bucky Barnes, No one is ever really sure whether Maria is an operative or not, Pre-Serum Steve Rogers, Sam and Tony are up to something, Shy Steve Rogers, War Veteran Bucky Barnes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-01
Updated: 2020-08-01
Packaged: 2021-03-05 20:34:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 9,709
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25641391
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gingertintedglasses/pseuds/gingertintedglasses, https://archiveofourown.org/users/LadyAngelique/pseuds/LadyAngelique
Summary: War Veteran turned Auto Mechanic Bucky Barnes makes his way to what he assumes is an overpriced hipster cafe that his boss, Tony, can't stop raving about.  At least until he lays eyes on the most beautiful man behind the counter yelling at a customer for harassing someone else in line.  With lots of flirting, pining, sexual tension, and maybe a little help from his friends, Bucky might just get to take the barista out.**“So, MJ knows Steve?”Tony whistled.  “Wow.  A whole three minutes, congratulations.”“Shut up.” Bucky laughed.“Yeah.  They took the same art class at the Community Center or something.”“That’s kind of how Alpomado’s became our…thing.  Sam opened the place a couple of years ago and MJ knew one of the managers so she brought in some food and coffee and it was love at first bite.”“Lame.”Tony batted at Bucky’s arm, one hand on the wheel.  “Says you.  You’ve been pining after Steve for like a month and haven’t made a move.  That’s lame.”
Relationships: James "Bucky" Barnes/Steve Rogers
Comments: 13
Kudos: 180





	1. Chapter One

**Author's Note:**

> Hi Everyone! Welcome to our Reverse Big Bang for 2020! 
> 
> I had the absolute pleasure of working with @LadyAngelique, whose beautiful artwork inspired this pic and that I have embedded in the chapters.

Bucky Barnes had never been in the business of backing down from a challenge and he didn't intend to begin now. But damn if Tony Stark didn't make him consider it. 

"So?" 

Bucky blinked at him.

"Barnes? Hello? Did I break you?" Tony glanced around the shop to find his other employees focused on their work and said to himself, "Shit. I think I broke him."

"You didn't break me, Stark. I just." Bucky waved a hand back and forth between them. "Can't believe I confused my coveralls for a mail sack."

Stark narrowed his eyes and stared Bucky down. 

"I'm not your messenger boy, Tony."

"I got the reference."

"You were uncharacteristically quiet."

"You still haven't brought me coffee or pastry."

"Tony."

"Barnes."

"No."

"Yes."

"Why?"

"Because it's your turn."

"It's my first day!"

" _You're welcome._ "

"Ugh." Bucky grabbed the list Tony held out. "Thanks for the job, you're welcome for the pastry, I'm not helping you change that tire later."

"Come on!"

"No."

"But you don't even need a jack with that thing! It's so cool! Come on."

"It's my _arm_ Tony!"

" _And it's super cool and I'm sorry if that was insensitive_ please?!"

"It is super cool. Maybe."

"Great!" Tony clapped his hands together. "See you soon. Don't forget the scones."

"Chocolate chip!" Thor called from underneath the car he was working on.

"Thanks for the backup, pal."

Thor rolled out from under the car, a wide smile on his face. "We must all make the trip to Alpomado, Bucky. It's a rite of passage for Stark employees."

"It's a coffee shop. Likely with its head up its ass. Who cares."

Thor glowered. "It's delightful and I met my Jane there."

"We can't all live in a Hallmark movie, buddy. Nice meet-cute, though."

Thor grinned fit to split his face. "Aye."

***

Bucky wasn't ungrateful for his job. He'd been grateful to meet Tony at a support group for veterans with PTSD. Tony'd been an engineer, Bucky had been special forces, and neither said much more on the subject than that. Tony offered him a job at his shop once Bucky had been cleared by his physical therapist to return to work. Bucky was also grateful that Tony didn't tip toe around his arm, ever, both before and after he'd gotten the prosthetic. It was refreshing in a way Bucky hadn't anticipated. So many people filled the space his arm used to be with silence that Tony treating the absence of an arm and then his prosthetic like they were any other part of him (because, he'd realized with his therapist after a lot of struggling with it, they were) was relieving. 

So, fine. He'd get Stark his fucking pour-over coffee and grass-fed bagels or whatever the fuck nonsense this place was going to serve, and move on with his life. And also, Bucky was getting the _most expensive_ items on the menu for himself. Because ok Stark was buying but that didn't make Bucky any more eager to do the errand.

The shop is easy to spot - it's about a block away and has an obnoxious awning and outdoor seating that looks pretentious, if patio furniture can look pretentious. And the sign proclaiming _Alpomado_ is huge and -ok fine, really gorgeously done, whoever they got to do the art. 

Stepping in, Bucky is met with anything but the kind of hipster nonsense cafe he was expecting. Not because it didn't look like one on the inside as much as it did on the outside -it did- but because one of the employees was _lit the fuck up_ and tearing into one of the customers. Bucky clearly walked in mid-rant: everyone, staff and patrons, were staring and silent and while most everyone looked over at the sound of the bell over the door ( _of course there was one_ ), the employee didn't break his stride. 

"What do you think you're gonna do, call my manager? I'll call my manager myself you jackass! What, you think telling them I read you the riot act and kicked you out for harassing someone is going to get me fired?!"

The patron he was yelling at had an easy six inches on the yelling employee. Which wasn't hard, the guy was kind of short, and also kind of thin, and the other guy was lean and muscular.

And taking a step towards the employee. "I think I'll get a lawyer."

The employee stepped out from behind the counter. Took several steps towards the patron. And _laughed_. "I would love to see you try and make that stick. Honestly. Get the _fuck_ out. Don't come back. Because yeah, I've got a manager. They own the place. But me? I'm shift supervisor so while the owner's out? I'm in charge." 

And he stood his ground. Eyes wide and angry, mouth a thin line and every inch of his thin frame coiled and ready for the next blow, verbal or physical. 

The entire shop seemed to be holding its breath. It took a handful of silent moments before the patron threw his iced coffee at the employee's feet, turned, and stomped out, knocking into Bucky's shoulder on the way by. Bucky was only sorry it wasn't his metal shoulder. 

The shop remained silent as the reverberation of the door slamming shut echoed. It was another employee that broke the silence. 

"Man, Steve. You have _got_ to warn us before you step out from behind the counter next time." The man didn't look ruffled despite the confrontation, he merely grabbed a bucket and mop and a "wet floor" sign and got to work. 

"Sorry, Scott."

Scott threw Steve a much put-upon smile. "No, you're not."

"Nope." The employee named Steve threw a smile at his co-worker and then headed back behind the counter. There was a slim brunette with a stony expression crouched down beside a table, talking quietly to a patron.

Bucky stood observing the scene for a few more moments before shaking himself and approaching the counter. If the staff were acting as though this was business as usual, then so would he. 

He stepped up to the counter, scanning the menu while trying to pull his list out of his jeans pocket. When he looked down, he was face-to-face with Steve, who was way cuter up close - big blue eyes, pouty lip and - ok Bucky was here to order food for his co-workers and also, he was covered in grease (already), even if his work jeans _did_ do something great for his ass. He had two-day stubble and his hair was falling out of the hasty bun he'd tossed it into that morning. 

Steve apparently thought he looked ok, though, because when Bucky met his eye, he blushed all the way to his ears and quietly asked what he could get Bucky. Bucky wanted to ask if he was really speaking to the guy who just tossed a customer out on his ass. And also for Steve's number but - customer out on his ass. He didn't want to ruin his chances before he'd even really had one. And he knew if Steve was single, he might have a chance, if the Bi Pride pin on Steve’s shirt was anything to go by.

So he placed his order, and handed over Stark's card. 

"Oh, you're from Stark’s." Steve said. 

"Yeah, just started. Apparently, that meant I was on coffee and danish duty today."

Steve blushed very, very red and said _almost_ too quiet for Bucky to hear over the noise of the shop and the receipt printing: "Lucky me."

Bucky smiled wide; he couldn't help himself. He took his card back when Steve handed it to him, but didn't put it back in his pocket, waiting until Steve met his eye. "No, lucky me. I might have to volunteer to make the coffee runs on a regular basis. If that'd be ok by you?"

Steve smiled and stammered and agreed.

"I'm Bucky."

"Steve." Steve said, and pointed Bucky in the direction of the pick-up area with an adorable, awkward goodbye. Bucky was smitten, _Steve_ was clearly into it, and while Bucky still had a little whiplash from watching him chew someone a new asshole and then immediately stammer at a cute guy, Bucky wasn't going to let that stop him.

***

"That place is pretty good, Stark." Bucky set down the box of pastry and the tray of coffees on a workbench. “The staff are…not what I expected.”

"So you met Steve." Natasha's smoky voice came from behind him and though Bucky didn't see it, he could hear the smile in her voice. 

"What?!" Bucky really needed to work on his poker face around Natasha. She unsettled him. Not in the sense that he felt unsafe around her, just in the sense that she could somehow see _through_ him and it was unnerving and he wanted it to stop, please. Or become best friends with her. He could use that kind of clairvoyance in his life.

"Mm." MJ poked her head around the corner from where she was posting the newest OSHA flyer and her latest drawing of Tony In Distress. "Definitely." She closed one eye and studied Bucky closely. "Yeah, he's definitely into Steve. I'm drawing you next. That was a great expression."

Bucky knew Tony had walked into the room when he squawked: "I do _not_ look like that!"

MJ turned back to her drawing and shrugged. "Sure you do."

"No."

"Thor ate the last of the pizza you were saving in the fridge."

Tony made the exact face MJ had drawn. 

She smiled, motioning to Bucky and Natasha. "See?"

"You're fired!" Tony sounded scandalized.

"No I'm not. You need me."

"Ugh. I really do though."

Bucky wasn't sure what exactly MJ did. To be fair, he'd only been there for his interview and part of the morning on his first day, but he gathered she was some kind of intern, or maybe the new office manager. Mostly, it seemed like Stark paid her to sass him.

"Do you want your coffee or not?"

Tony waltzed over and took his cup. "Gratzi. So. Steve, huh?"

"Maybe."

Tony's eyes lit up. " _Yes_."

" _Maybe_. I said about ten words to him. And he was-"

"Terrible at holding a real conversation?" Nat suggested, picking a danish from the box.

"-Flustered. Sweet. I'll ask him out. I just...want him to feel comfortable first. He seems shy."

MJ shrugged. "'Til his morality radar gets a hit, then he's a lot of righteous indignation." 

"So he does that a lot, huh?" Bucky mused.

"Does what a lot?" MJ asked, half-distracted selecting a truly massive doughnut. 

"When I walked in, he was yelling at some customer and threw him out."

MJ grinned. "Yeah, he does that like, all the time. Did he get punched this time?"

"Punched?"

MJ shrugged. "He gets into a _lot_ of fights, for someone who really doesn't have any business on the business end of a fist."

Thor chose that moment to approach, picking up his caramel macchiato and a chocolate croissant. "Steven does find his way into trouble very often." He laughed. "Jane tells me they keep a tally in the kitchen of how many days in a month he has a black eye." 

Tony waved Thor off. "Is it ever less than half? Point being - _you're welcome_. You met your future honey and discovered the truth of Alpomado's delicious food."

Bucky took a large bite of his lemon-blueberry muffin, rather than dignify Tony with a response. He hoped Tony was right about Steve being his future boyfriend, but refused to give him the satisfaction.

***

"So that guy was crazy handsome, huh?” Scott was busy sweeping up and not noticing how loud he was speaking. Maybe. He was deceptively intelligent and Steve was pretty sure that he acted that oblivious on purpose.

“What guy?” Steve busied himself wrapping up leftover pastries; the staff rotated who took the leftovers home, and this week was his turn. He’d discovered that while his landlord was a bit of an intimidating hardass, he had a massive sweet tooth. Steve tried to bring Mr. Fury leftovers whenever he could. 

Scott stopped what he was doing to throw Steve a look. “Really? The brown-haired guy that came in here that made you blush just by looking at him.” 

“Steve’s got a coffeeshop romance? In my coffeeshop? And here I thought it’d just be fistfights as far as the eye could see.”

Sam was back. _Great_. Steve loved his boss; his boss was one of his best friends. But Sam was also a Sass Master of the highest order, which was saying something. 

“Mmhmm. Blushed like crazy. How can you throw someone out on their ass one minute, and then be _completely_ tongue-tied the next? It’s wild.” Scott leaned on his broom, marveling at Steve. “You have got to teach me how to do that.”

“Shut up.”

Sam laughed. “So did you talk to him, or did you just take his order and stumble through the whole interaction?”

“We-“

“Boss, this guy is _smooth_. But not rude. I don’t know how he did it, I thought Steve would give him some grief, he looked like he was still riding high on his rage but one look at this guy and it was over.”

Steve glared. “Scott!” He turned to Sam. “We talked. Kind of. It was more than just…taking his order. I have game.”

Sam guffawed. “ _Game_.” He wheezed. “You don’t have _game_. You have the romantic grace of a dog in rollerskates.”

“Sam!”

Scott was too busy cracking up to contribute, thank god.

“I’m just saying. It’s adorable but you trip all over yourself.”

Steve groaned. 

“I mean, Steve did get his name.”

“Oh?”

Steve glared at Scott, before responding to Sam. “Bucky. His name is Bucky.”

“That is not the name of a grown-ass man.”

“You wouldn’t think so, but he’s…” Scott thought a moment. “I’m not even into dudes and I’d ask him on a date.”

Sam turned a disbelieving look on Scott. “You say that far too much for someone who’s not into dudes. Not judging, just suggesting that, you know. Maybe you think about that. Do some soul-searching.”

“I am a connoisseur of fine bone structure.”

Steve shrugged. Bucky did have ridiculous cheekbones. And like, really, really nice forearms. 

“Fair enough.” Sam glanced to Steve. “Well, fingers crossed he stops in tomorrow so I can see him for myself.”

“Sam, no.” Steve sounded vaguely horrified.

“Sam, _yes_ ” Scott’s delight had him nearly vibrating in place. He was a sucker for a good rom-com, to hear his wife Hope tell it. “I’ll be on shift too, so I can let you know when he’s coming in.”

Sam laughed. “Perfect. Man, this might be _two_ romances in one coffeeshop. These grounds must be blessed by the Hallmark deities or something.”

“Was that a coffee pun?” Scott mused. 

Sam high-fived Scott with a ‘Hell yes!’ and Steve (gently) banged his head against the countertop, and resigned himself to his fate. 

***

  
Sure enough, Bucky made an appearance at Alpomado’s the next morning. Scott didn’t even need to nudge Sam, because one look at Steve’s face and Sam _knew_. 

“Oh shit.” Sam muttered under his breath in Steve’s ear. “Scott wasn’t kidding.”

“Shut up.” Steve hissed.

Sam smiled a mile wide and made a ‘locking and throwing away the key’ gesture. Steve didn’t believe him for a moment. 

Especially because even though Steve was supposed to be at the register, Sam stepped that way instead and shooed Steve towards the display and pick-up counter. Steve would have the chance to talk to Bucky, now. There was no one behind him in line and Steve would be the one to make and hand Bucky his order. He was pretty sure he’d freak out too much about seeming socially adept to actually _be_ socially adept. What was his life. 

And then Bucky was in front of him and Steve had an order ticket in need of filling. 

“Hi Steve.” Bucky’s voice was. Wow. The way his name sounded in Bucky’s mouth made Steve pretty sure he wanted to wrap himself up in that voice more. 

Bucky was waiting for a response. Shit. “Uh – h-hi. Hey. Bucky. Hi. Good morning.”

Bucky smiled wide, like Steve stuttering like a teenager made his whole morning. “Hey. You look nice today.”

Steve glanced down. Required black slacks, solid-color _Alpomado’s_ shirt, and his apron with two pins: his bi pride pin that he wore every day, and another he rotated on the daily. Today, it was his RBG Dissent Collar pin. “Yeah? Thanks.”

“Yeah. I like the pin.”

Steve’s heart leapt, hopeful, as he handed over Bucky’s order. He tried (and, he thought, failed) to sound nonchalant. “Which one?”

Bucky collected his order, winked at Steve, and said before turning to go: “Both.”

Steve blushed. He blushed _so hard_. 

“Damn, Steve. Scott wasn’t kidding.” Steve hadn’t noticed Sam approach and lean against the display case. “And he seems interested.” Sam wiggled his eyebrows. 

“Don’t.”

“Don’t what?” Sam played innocent. 

“Don’t do that thing where you try to set us up.”

Sam meant well, but Steve – well, Steve was the problem. He was too shy (except when he wasn’t) and had a perfect record for fucking up every conversation with a handsome guy. 

Sam held out his pinky. “Promise I won’t.”

Steve hooked his pinky finger with Sam’s and breathed a sigh of relief. “Thank you.”

“Maria will do it.” Sam nodded behind Steve, where indeed, Maria had just wandered up from back-of-house where she’d been doing the weekly accounting and inventory. 

“What’ll I do?” She narrowed her eyes at Sam, all too aware of his schemes, between five years of co-owning Alpomado’s and seven years of marriage. 

“Help Steve talk to his soulmate.”

Maria smiled, Cheshire-like and nodded, all too happy to help despite having exactly zero details. 

“He’s not my soulmate!” Steve threw his hands up and pushed away from the counter. “Also, this conversation is _way_ too loud. Someone’s gonna hear.”

“Someone _has_ heard.”

Oh shit. That was MJ. And she was _smiling_. Steve never remembered anything good happening when she smiled like that.

“MJ.”

“Steve.”

“Don’t say anything. Please.”

She raised an eyebrow. “You want to pine away in silence when you could instead go on a date with him?”

“ _MJ_.”

She sighed. “Fine. I have no idea what you’re talking about. I heard nothing. Say what about what? I certainly don’t know.”

“Thank you.”

She hummed. “Yeah. You’re buying my danish today.”

Steve stared her down for only a moment before throwing up his hands in defeat. “Fine.”


	2. Chapter Two

Bucky was pretty content with his lot in life, all things considered. Sure, things were pretty shit for a long while, and sometimes things still felt pretty shit. But he had a job he liked; with people he was discovering could be friends. His apartment was…ok. Not great. But he’d been fixing it up, with the landlord’s permission and at the suggestion of his therapist almost a year earlier as a way to expend some energy, fill up some of his time, and take ownership of something that felt manageable. 

He’d put in an electric fireplace and built a fake mantle around it in the living room. He’d re-done the backsplash in the kitchen. He had bought one of those waterfall showerheads that, ok, was a little expensive, but now he sometimes daydreamed about going home at the end of the day and taking a long shower. He’d moved on to the bedroom now, and was currently staring at the job he’d done on the accent wall he’d chosen. The paint was still drying so he couldn’t stencil on it yet, but it looked good. He’d painted it a slate blue, and had finished the final coat of chalkboard paint for a two-by-two square foot area on the side closest to his bedroom door for a calendar and to-do list. When it was dry, he was going to stencil in the grid for the calendar, and lines for his to do list. 

And then with the chalk he’d bought, he was going to start his list. At the top, he was planning to write: _Ask Steve on a date_. 

Sometimes -most times- he put a deadline on his to-do list items. It helped him hold himself accountable to his projects or errands. He wouldn’t be putting a deadline on this item. He wanted to ask Steve out, and he would, but Steve was so shy he didn’t want to rush and make him uncomfortable. Bucky knew what that was like, in his own way, and he didn’t want to start off that way with Steve. 

Instead, he’d been coming up with a plan. He went to Alpomado’s twice a week. As much as he wanted to go every day (because Tony was right, it was that good despite the hipster feel), he had a budget to think of and also didn’t want to be the Guy Who Can’t Take A Hint if Steve’s blushing was of the uncomfortable rather than flattered kind. 

He didn’t think he was, three weeks into visiting twice per week and four weeks since he first walked into the café. Each time they spoke Steve leaned forward, smiled, and met Bucky’s eye. They’d even moved past pleasantries and Bucky now knows that Steve had a Sphynx named Deagol and a tank of tropical fish. Steve knew Bucky had returned from his tours a couple of years ago and loved anything with lemon or almond in it. 

And on the most recent and memorable occasion, had blushed outrageously and told Bucky how nice he thought Bucky’s arms were and had let his hand linger when he handed Bucky his order. 

_“What?” Bucky smiled, a little too apprehensively, he thought, as he waited. He’d caught Steve staring. At his arms. Again. Bucky wanted to be nervous or disheartened but it was_ Steve _and by now Bucky had figured out that Steve was very much in the business of chewing people out for their -ism while being pretty aware of working on his own._

_“I just – your arms. I-“ Steve blushed and busied himself with adding an extra almond croissant on the sly while he said “I think they’re nice. Attractive. Strong…looking?”_

_“My arm?” Bucky glanced down at his flesh arm, and then his prosthetic, he wasn’t sure which Steve was talking about, and was pretty sure he misheard to begin with._

_“Your arms. Both of them.”_

_“I -oh.” Bucky beamed. He could feel it and couldn’t control it and wasn’t sure he wanted to. “Thanks.”_

_Steve nodded. “Yeah.”_

So yeah. On Monday, he was going to go in and pay Steve a compliment. Not that he hadn’t before. Just. A more direct one. Telling someone they looked nice and telling someone that they were handsome were different things. Bucky was definitely going to do it. And maybe even ask him out. Bucky wouldn’t rule it out as a possibility, depending upon how the conversation went. 

His phone rang and made him jump out of his skin. He’d really gotten into his planning. 

“Tony.”

“Barnes. I’m outside. You coming?”

Bucky pulled his phone away from his ear to look at the time. “Shit. It’s already two?”

“Sure is, you coming to the VA or not?”

“Five minutes.”

“Three hundred, two hundred and ninety-nine, two hundred and ninety-eight…”

Bucky laughed. “You bastard.” And hung up. 

Swapping his grease and paint flecked shirt for a plain tee, Bucky shoved a hand through his hair to try and make it behave before giving up. It was _just_ long enough to drive him crazy but a little too short to pull up somehow.

When he stepped out onto his stoop, Tony was already launching something at him. “Here!”

Bucky fumbled for the item, and managed to catch it before it could hit the ground. “Wha-“ Butterfly clips. Small, sparkly butterfly clips. That motherfucker. “You motherfucker.”

Tony barked out a laugh. “Oh, come on! I thought they’d be helpful! You’re always trying to shove your hair out of your way. These’ll help.”

“I stopped playing Pretty Pretty Princess when Becca stopped enjoying it.”

“You’ll look _so pretty_ , Princess.”

“I mean, yes. But they don’t even match.”

“They’re hot pink glittery butterfly clips. What _don’t_ they match?”

Bucky considered this, and unclipped one from the cardstock and clipped it into his hair. “Point.”

“Whoo!” Tony exclaimed. “Now, get in or we’ll be late.” 

Bucky waited just long enough to not feel super desperate. “So, MJ knows Steve?”

Tony whistled. “Wow. A whole three minutes, congratulations.”

“Shut up.” Bucky laughed.

“Yeah. They took the same art class at the Community Center or something.”

“Interesting.” Steve was an artist. Bucky wondered what kinds of things he drew. He appreciated MJ’s Distress drawings, even the ones she drew of Bucky. 

“That’s kind of how Alpomado’s became our…thing. Sam opened the place a couple of years ago and MJ knew one of the managers so she brought in some food and coffee and it was love at first bite.”

“Lame.”

Tony batted at Bucky’s arm, one hand on the wheel. “Says you. You’ve been pining after Steve for like a month and haven’t made a move. _That’s_ lame.”

“First of all, the word you want is _gentlemanly_ or _chivalrous_. He seems shy. Second, I have _not_ been pining.”

“You are, and you’re getting it all over my shop.”

“Gross.”

“ _You’re_ gross, teddy bear.”

Bucky’s face screwed up in a bewildered expression without his permission. “Tony. No.”  
  


“Look at the size of you! Tall and muscly and shit. And you’re a total fluffball. Teddy bear.”

“No.”

Tony was silent a few moments. But only a few. “Fine. Bucky Bear it is.”

Bucky groaned. “I just. I hate you.”

Tony parked. “Well. At least you have until tomorrow morning to work through that.”

Bucky groaned, and followed Tony into the VA. 

He was _not_ pining, and the thought distracted him for most of the meeting, which meant, goddamnit, that Tony was right. He’d never hear the end of it, but he was already hearing about it _without_ admitting Tony was right, so he figured, what the hell. He waited until they were back in Tony’s car to bring it up again.

“So I’ve been pining?”

“You’re buying me dinner is what you are.”

Bucky groaned, but waved Tony on. “Wherever you want. And seriously?”

“Yes! You go twice a week—”

“Thor goes every day!”

“His girlfriend works there! And he doesn’t go on and on about the trip in a thinly veiled attempt to find out more about his crush from a co-worker.”

“Take that back! I am so smooth.”

Tony pulled into the parking lot of his restaurant of choice. Sushi, apparently. “Comparatively, sure. But Steve’s a disaster.”

Bucky didn’t bother trying to seem cool about Steve, given the topic. He really was usually pretty smooth. But it’d been a while since he _really_ liked someone. At least, he consoled himself, he could be smooth around Steve himself. 

“A really handsome disaster.”

“Oh my god, _ask him out_.” 

“I will!”

“It’s been a _month_! I thought you were more confident than this.”

“I _am_. I just – he’s _shy_. He’s sweet and kind and introverted and I don’t want to come off…creepy or something and completely blow any shot I have.”

Tony had his car door partially open, but pulled it shut and turned to stare at Bucky. “You are way better at reading signals than this. I know it. I’ve seen you in action when we’ve gone out for a drink. What’s up?”

Bucky scrubbed a hand down his face. Tony was rarely very serious but when he was, he _meant it_ and there was no escaping it. And it was disconcerting to be under the full force of his focus, so Bucky folded. “I really like him. I want to…do it right? -He’s at work, and he _has_ to be nice to people, it’s part of his job in customer service. I don’t want him to feel obligated to say yes because he’s on the clock or feels like I’ve cornered him.”

“ _Obligated_?! Isn’t this the guy who you said chewed out and then threw out some customer for being a dick?”

“Yeah.”

Tony nodded. “Ok. So we know that he doesn’t feel obligated to be nice to people just because he’s at work. Next.”

“That could just have been because that guy was so blatantly in the wrong.”

“Mm. That’s not how MJ describes him. Wasn’t that something she said after your first trip there? That he does that shit literally all the time?”

Bucky sighed. “Yeah.”

“Great. Next.”

“Next…” Bucky wiggled the fingers on his prosthetic but refused to look at Tony. “The arm. He’s complimented me on my arms but…it’s different, when you’re dating someone.” Bucky couldn’t explain how. It just. He was sure it was. The few dates he’d tried to go on always seemed to think so, even if he had worked _really hard_ to get to the point he was at. 

He liked himself, he really did. He had good days and bad days, like everyone else, and he was grateful he had two arms, even if one was technically not his but a wildly bleeding-edge-of-technological-advance that might as well have been real. He liked it. It was fully functional and then some – Tony hadn’t been kidding about not needing a jack with Bucky around and there was something fun about that. 

But that didn’t mean other people felt that way. Ableism was alive and well, and Bucky was big enough to admit that he’d internalized it some, even if he was getting better at recognizing it. 

“Bullshit.” Tony was never so succinct and it startled Bucky out of his rabbit hole and into looking over. 

“Now that I’ve got your attention.” Tony smiled. “It’s bullshit. First of all, it’s _cool as hell_. Second of all, I’ve met the guy a few times when I’ve gone in to order myself. I don’t get the feeling he’s going to hold it against you when he’s got hearing aids.”

“What?”

Tony smiled. “And you didn’t even notice. Wonder if he feels that way about your arm.”

Bucky sat back. Well, fuck. 


	3. Chapter Three

Today was the day. It had been nearly a month of Bucky flirting and Steve awkwardly managing to respond and not knock anything over and ruin the entire interaction, though it had been a near thing. The time he stumbled over the corner of a bag of coffee beans, sent them everywhere, and nearly landed face-first on the floor didn’t bear mentioning, despite the fact that everyone present (Bucky aside) disagreed. 

Today was the day Steve was going to be _smooth_. He was going to do more than just respond when Bucky spoke -he’d ask questions back and pay him a compliment. At least one. 

Steve was so fucking hopeless. He didn’t know exactly how he was so bad at interacting when it was romantic, because he could wit-spar with his friends all day. He made friends surprisingly easy (now), considering he was half-spite, half-rage, but he always fucked it up when it came to romance. 

“That phyllo dough giving you a hard time?” 

Steve startled. He hadn’t heard Maria come in. He hadn’t expected her today at all – he was opening, and then Sam was closing. 

“Maria.”

“Hey. Sorry. You ok?”

“Yeah.”

She smiled. “It’s Monday.”

Steve nodded, knowing where she was going but wanting to take the scenic route getting there, and also kind of hoped they didn’t get there at all. “Sure is.”

“Bucky comes in on Mondays. And Thursdays.”

Steve nodded like she’d shared something he hadn’t committed to heart. “I guess he does.”

“That’s not a pretty look on anyone, Steve.”

“What’s that?”

“Stop playing dumb.”

He sighed. “You guys are the worst.”

“What’s wrong?”

“You mean aside from the fact that I’m a complete tragedy around the most handsome guy I’ve ever seen?”

“No, we don’t have time for more than that, really.” She smiled.

Steve laughed. 

Maria waited; a small, patient smile fixed on her face.

Steve sighed. “I’ve always been a mess when it comes to romantic shit.”

“Mm. Bad experiences?”

“Not always. I’ve had some really great relationships. I just.” He shrugged. “I’m not confident in myself.” He waved a hand over himself. “I like myself, but let’s be honest – I know what people see when they look at me.”

Maria tilted her head. “Do you?”

“I – well – yes –I mean, you guys are different.”

She smiled. “So you _don’t_ always know what people see when they look at you.”

“Stooooop.”

“You know, I read this thing, a while back, that talked about your currency, instead of your worth.”

Steve waited.

“Worth feels really nebulous, for a lot of people. But currency, that thing you _trade_ with other people? That feels more…accessible. So, ok. You don’t feel like you’re trading your appearance for someone else’s time, because you don’t think it’s an even exchange. What are you trading? Your intelligence? Your wit and your moral compass?”

“Why are you not a therapist?”

Maria shrugged. “For all you know, Sam’s shop is my side hustle.”

She wasn’t wrong. Steve was pretty sure she as operative, but he’d never say that. She might have to kill him. 

“Fair.”

She nodded. “All I’m saying is that you might like yourself, but you might want to work on thinking you have value. He clearly likes you. I know you see him smile at you, but you should see how he lit up on Thursday when he thought he somehow missed your shift, and _then_ you came out from the back just before his lunch break was over.”

Steve couldn’t help himself, he smiled. “Really?”

She nodded. “Yeah. Lit up like a goddamn Christmas tree.”

Steve blushed. “That’s sweet.”

“It is. Also, how does he look so handsome no matter what he’s doing with his face? It’s _really_ annoying.”

Steve flailed. Finally, someone _got it_. “ _Right?!_ ”

***

Bucky had been coming in twice a week to get a coffee or a pastry during the morning rush, but it was last week he started taking his lunch break at the café. Steve hadn’t seen him Thursday morning and he’d been feeling sorry for himself about it, even though he maintained to his friends Bucky wasn’t coming into see _him_ specifically. (Despite the fact that Bucky was polite and reserved to everyone in the shop and absolutely warm and open and chatty with Steve). Which was why, when he’d come out from the kitchen after making a new batch of lemon-blueberry muffins, he felt his heart skip a beat when he saw Bucky sitting at a table by the window. 

So Thursday was the first day Bucky’d taken his lunch break at Alpomado’s instead of coming in for coffee in the morning and Steve couldn’t decide if he hoped to see Bucky first-thing on Monday, or have to wait just a little longer and get to surreptitiously stare at his beautiful face for an entire hour around lunchtime. Steve _could_ decide that he was being a little hopeless. 

Morning came and went, and Bucky hadn’t appeared. Lunchtime, then. Steve glanced at the clock. 

“Two hours.”

He glanced over at Scott who was busy replacing the spool of paper for receipts. “What?”

“Two hours,” Scott repeated, “until one pm. That’s when Bucky came in for his break on Thursday.”

Scott wasn’t even _trying_ to be quiet.

“Shh!”

“ _Shh_ yourself. None of these people even know what we’re talking about. We’ve all had crushes before anyway.”

Steve felt his ears burn. “I don’t have a crush!”

Scott turned to toss the empty spool away. “Have you asked him out? Told him you liked him?”

“No.”

“Then it’s a crush.”

Steve groaned. 

“But hey – two more hours, and it doesn’t have to be!”

“I hate you.”

Scott smiled. “Nu-uh.”

Before Steve could get into a fifth-grade argument with Scott, Natasha approached the till. She didn’t even _look_ at Scott, who asked for her order and then stared, deer-like. She was staring at Steve. Steve had met her only a handful of times before, but Natasha wasn’t the kind of person you forgot.

“Heard a lot about you.” 

Steve wasn’t sure he could move. “Me?’

She nodded. “Mm-hmm. A _lot_.”

“Sorry?” Steve apologized because she sort of sounded offended. Annoyed? He wasn’t sure and so figured it was better to apologize just in case. 

Scott’s head whipped around so fast Steve winced for him. “Did you just _apologize_?!”

“Scott.”

“No way, I’m writing this down.” And then he turned and walked away from the till, ostensibly to go to the kitchen and add the apparently momentous occasion to the calendar they usually tracked his black eyes with, leaving Steve standing there while Natasha continued to stare and seemed unbothered that Scott had abandoned her without taking her order. 

Natasha stared at Steve. Steve stared at Natasha. Natasha raised a single, perfect eyebrow. 

“Sorry! Sorry. Uh. What can I get you?”

She smiled, shark-like. “A break.”

“I…don’t understand?” 

“Bucky’s going to come in here today, because it’s Monday and I’ve known him for about a _month_ and I know he’s predictable as hell. So, he’ll be in today at some point. Ask him out.”

“I-I-uh. I mean. I—”

Natasha reached over the counter and took Steve’s hand. “I will maim him if I have to hear your name one more time and it isn’t followed immediately by ‘and I are going on a date’. Pinky-promise.” She smiled serenely. Steve believed her promise wholeheartedly. 

“Natasha, I—”

“I am going to say something to you I have never said to another human before. I won’t say it again, so listen super close: I am _begging you_ to ask him out. This is desperation. He says he’s going to ask you out, but I don’t believe him. He’s acting way too smooth and unbothered by it not to be a mess inside. I believe in you. I’ve seen you toss shithead customers out on their asses. You can do this.”

Steve was pretty sure he’d never been speechless before. But, well. He wasn’t sure what to say. 

Natasha was still staring at him. Natasha still had his hand in hers. 

“I. Uh. Yes. I – I can. I will. Yes. Of course.”

She let him go. “Great. Also, I’ll have a macchiato, extra caramel, and a bear claw.”

Scott had returned from the back and staring so Steve kicked him in the shin as he passed to fill Natasha’s order to get Scott to ring her up. 

Natasha accepted her order from Steve with a smile and leaned in to speak quietly. “If it helps, he’s waited so long because he doesn’t want to make you feel uncomfortable.”

Steve blushed. “That’s – that’s really sweet.”

“Yeah. He’s nauseating. Ask him out. For me.”

Steve laughed. “Thanks, Natasha.”

***

At one pm, the bell over the door rang and Bucky stepped in, absently wiping his hands on a handkerchief. Steve took a moment to check his reflection in the espresso machine and try on a wide smile to be sure his smile looked as wide as it felt. 

Sam was humming The Pixies’ _Here Comes Your Man_ not-so-quietly as Bucky approached the till. Steve pointedly ignored him and focused a little too intently on filling the order of the customer ahead of Bucky. 

Steve couldn’t hear Bucky’s order over the espresso machine, but if he was as predictable as Natasha made him out to be, he’d order the same thing he got the first time he took his lunch break at the café last week. 

The ticket Steve was handed said Bucky had ordered a panini and an iced coffee. So yeah. Natasha was right. Surprise. Steve sighed inwardly. He was going to do this. He _was_. 

“Hey.” Bucky smiled, not as wide as usual, as he approached the pick-up counter.

“Hey, Buck.” Steve tried to smile back, and he wasn’t sure how successful he was. So much for two seconds of practice being aware of what his face was doing. “Lunch time?”

“Yeah.” Bucky reached for the cup of coffee Steve passed his way while his panini toasted. “Did you have a good weekend?”

“Yeah! Yeah. I uh. Saw some friends, worked on a painting. Nothing crazy. You?” 

“Painted my bedroom, hung out with my boss.” Bucky huffed a quiet laugh. “All kinds of exciting stuff.”

“Cool.”

_Cool_. Steve wanted to facepalm. He was _blowing it_ and he’d promised Natasha. And himself, but he was more afraid of Natasha than living with his inner voice taunting him for being awkward as hell. 

“Yeah. -Hey, do you get a break soon, or did you just start your shift?”

“What?” Steve turned to get Bucky’s panini, hearing the machine beep. 

The sure smile Bucky had faded just a bit. Steve only noticed because he was looking. “A break. Like, did you just start your shift for the day, or are you in the middle and expecting to take a break soon?”

“Oh! Oh. Uh – I have a break coming up. After the lunch rush.” 

“Oh – right.” Bucky smiled, glancing down at his coffee and sandwich for only a moment before meeting Steve’s eye. “Well. Maybe another time, I could come in when you’re on your break, and we could sit together, and have coffee?”

Steve wanted to kick something. And take his break. He nodded. “I’d like that.”

Bucky’s smile turned more confident then. “It’s a date then.”

“A date?” Steve felt a little light-headed. 

“Yeah.” Bucky’s smile faded again. “Unless you don’t want that – Sorry, if I offended you.”

“No! No. I’d like that. A lot. A date.” 

Bucky beamed. “Great.”

They stared at one another and Steve flinched when a pen hit him in the back. He wasn’t sure who was watching from the back room, but he was sure he’d be finding out and returning the favor. He took the hint, though.

“So, Thursday, maybe?” Steve offered.

Bucky nodded. “Thursday.” With a wink, he turned to find a table, and Steve tried not to blush too hard as he hurried to fill the next order. 

“I’ve got this.” Scott had appeared out of nowhere and nudged Steve out of the way. Maybe not nowhere. Scott probably threw the pen. Sam placed a plated double-chocolate muffin in front of Steve. 

“And it’s time for your break anyway.”

“Guys.” Steve wasn’t sure if he was ready now. 

“You already made plans for Thursday. So what if they move up a little. He asked you out, you said yes. He’s clearly interested. _Go_.” Sam motioned towards the café’s seating area. When Steve didn’t budge, Scott gave him a gentle kick to the shin. 

“Ow! Alright, ok.” Steve picked up the plate, and walked around the counter. “I’m going.” 

Bucky glanced up as Steve approached. 

“Hey. I uh – I hope I’m not interrupting. -I mean, I know I am, but I hope you don’t mind that I’m interrupting. But if you do, I can go. I—”

“Steve. Hi.” Bucky motioned to the empty seat across from himself. “I would love it if you joined me. I know we said Thursday but…” he shrugged, “today’s even better. Now is best.” 

Steve laughed a little nervously and sat, running a hand through his hair. “I’m so bad at this.” He admitted. 

“What’s that?” Bucky furrowed his brow, taking a sip of his iced coffee as he waited. 

“Talking to hot guys.”

Bucky’s eyebrows shot up and he smiled a mile wide. Steve was pretty sure his face was on fire. What the fuck was wrong with his mouth.

Bucky’s grin was absolutely wicked. “I like your mouth.”

Oh shit, he’d said that out loud. “Thanks?” He tried. 

Bucky chuckled. “I mean it.”

“Yeah, well. I like the look of yours.” 

“Might have to do something about that. If I’m allowed to take you on a date off-shift.”

“I’d like that. A lot.”

Bucky sat back, poking at his sandwich as he thought, eyes on Steve. “So today and Thursday lunch, maybe this weekend we could have a wander around the park?”

“Sunday, around one? I can meet you at the west entrance.”

“Deal.” Bucky seemed to notice the plate Steve had brought for the first time. “Is that…?”

“For us. I brought two forks?”

Bucky set aside his sandwich. “I’m completely up for dessert first today.” 

Steve handed him a fork and tried desperately to think of something to say. “So how long have you worked at Tony’s?”

“A month or so. I’ve known him longer, though. Maybe a couple years.”

“You’ve put up with him that long?” 

Bucky laughed. “We’ve put up with each other that long.”

“I don’t know, you don’t seem like a difficult guy to get along with.” Steve blushed the whole way through but he _said it_. And then focused way too hard on the muffin. 

Bucky tapped the tines of Steve’s fork with his own to get Steve to meet his eyes. “I’m pretty good at getting under someone’s skin. Maybe not as good as Tony, but I hold my own. But you seem like an exceptional kind of guy.”

Steve blushed harder. “I promised myself I wouldn’t blush and I literally can’t stop. Oh my gosh.”

“It’s cute.”

Steve gave up. What the hell. “ _You’re_ cute.”

This time, Bucky blushed and Steve did a little victory dance (mentally). He could be smooth. He _could_. He would. 

“Thanks.”

“So tell me something about yourself. Aside from the fact that it’s completely unfair that you eat that much sweet stuff every week and still look like that.” 

Bucky glanced down at himself when Steve waved his fork in Bucky’s general direction, as if just noticing for the first time that he was unfairly attractive. “Uh. I work out?”

Steve cracked up. “You did not just.”

“It’s true, though!”

“Ok, fine, you work out. What else?”

“I like to have projects. I’m re-doing my apartment to make it less…like an apartment and more like a home.”

Steve couldn’t help the smile he felt unfurl across his face. “That sounds nice.”

“It is.” Bucky cut himself a piece of the muffin and raised the bite to his mouth. “You should come by and see it, sometime.” And then put the entire thing in his mouth, pulling the fork out clean, slowly, without breaking eye contact with Steve. 

Steve reached over and swiped a bit of chocolate from the corner of Bucky’s mouth and then brought his thumb to his mouth before he could overthink the gesture. While he was at work. On shift. _On break_ but on shift. With a customer. Who, ok, he’d had a crush on and had agreed to go out with and had just propositioned him _but still_.

He wasn’t going to overthink it. He constantly overthought things and ended up a disaster. So he decided, _fuck_ it, and swiped his tongue over his bottom lip for good measure, feeling yet another blush creep over his cheeks seeing Bucky’s eyes focus on the movement. 

“I’d really like that, Buck.”

Bucky hummed. “Yeah. Yeah so would I.” Bucky tapped his fingers on the table a couple of times before leaning forward, his grin turning what Steve could only call predatory. “I want to take you out. Tonight. We can still meet on Sunday. But I’ve been wanting to ask you out for weeks and I didn’t want to rush you, but now – now I’m sorry I didn’t ask you out sooner.”

“I’ll forgive you somehow.” 

“Yeah?”

Steve looked up at Bucky through his lashes and nodded, determined to continue not overthinking it and playing coy. He was liking it. _Bucky_ was clearly liking it, and so Steve didn’t hesitate to say, “Yeah. I have a feeling you’re going to make it up to me pretty spectacularly.”

“At least twice.”

Steve sat back hard, and glanced toward the counter. 

Bucky paled. “Steve, I’m sorry, I—”

Steve stopped him, holding up a hand in his direction. “No. Don’t, I’ll – just, wait a minute, ok?”

Bucky nodded, struck dumb.

Steve stood and hurried back to the counter, hissing at Scott. “I need you to cover for me for the rest of my shift.”

“Dude!” Scott motioned to the rest of the café. 

“ _Please_. Scott.”

“I got it.” Maria’s voice came calm and amused from behind him. 

“How did you even _know_?”

“Sam texted me and told me you were finally talking to him. I had to come see for myself. I’ll take the rest of your shift.”

Steve narrowed his eyes at her. “What do you _do_?”

Maria smiled serenely. “Don’t worry about it. Go on a date.”

Steve wasn’t going to look a gift horse in the mouth, so he untied his apron and headed back over to Bucky’s table. “Sorry about that.”

Bucky looked him up and down. “No apron?” He was smiling, though.

“I got someone to cover for me, if you think you’d be interested in getting out of here and on to our date sooner rather than later.”

Rather than respond, Bucky pulled out his phone and started texting. 

“Unless that was too forward of me?”

Bucky shook his head, not looking up. “Trust me, not at all. I’m letting Tony know I’m taking the rest of the day off.”

Steve grinned, playing along. “Oh yeah? What, you’re not feeling well all of a sudden, maybe it’s something you ate?”

Bucky tucked his phone back into his pocket and stood, holding a hand to Steve. “Something I want to eat.”

Steve couldn’t hold back a whimper, and hurried to take Bucky’s hand. 


	4. Chapter Four - Epilogue

**_Two Years Later_ **

“I knew this was a good idea.”

Sam rolled his eyes, setting down a stack of pastry-filled boxes on the picnic table. “Just because it’s your idea doesn’t make it a good one.”

Tony raised an eyebrow.

“Ok, _in this instance_ , it’s a good idea.” Sam corrected.

“Hah!” Tony clapped his hands together once in victory. 

“Save it, there’s a lot more setting up to do before they get here.”

Scott glanced around as he carried in grocery bags of buns, burger meat, and all kinds of toppings and condiments. “How do we even know they’re engaged? We haven’t seen them since they left for Iceland. Isn’t a surprise engagement party going to be super awkward if we’re wrong?”

MJ looked up from where she was putting centerpieces together with Natasha. “Bucky does this thing with his face when he’s nervous. Nobody’s nervous about hot springs. They’re engaged.”

“I mean maybe he’s afraid of flying?”

“Also, I helped him pick out the ring. So.”

Scott levelled her with an exasperated expression. “You could have led with that.”

MJ shrugged.

“See?!” Tony exclaimed, again. 

Sam sighed, again. “Ok. Fine. Alright. It’s a _great_ idea and they’re going to love it.”

“Now that we’ll be in-laws, do we get a discount?” Tony was trying his best to subtly open one of the boxes Sam brought to see what kind of pastries he’d made. 

Sam placed a hand gently on top of the box Tony was trying to open and gave him a mischievous smile. “Do we?” 

Tony stared at Sam for only a handful of moments. “Absolutely.”

Sam laughed, and lifted his hand from the box. “Then yes.”

“Excellent!” Thor had arrived, decorations in tow, and yet somehow had a hand free to swipe the first Danish from the box Tony opened. 

Tony narrowed his eyes. “You are way too good at that, buddy.”

Thor motioned to himself with the pastry. “I simply have serendipitous timing, my friend.”

“Sure you do.”

“Boys.” Natasha chided without looking up from the final centerpiece she was working on. “If you don’t stop bickering and start decorating, they’ll be here before we’re ready.”

Thor smiled placidly at Tony. “We had better put aside these differences for now then, my friend.”

Tony scowled, but went back to setting chairs out. 

***

A little over an hour later, and Sam was just sitting down at one of the picnic tables when he heard a car door slam shut out front of Tony’s house. Tony didn’t have a huge yard, but he had a yard in Brooklyn. It was just large enough for the staff of Stark’s and Alpomado’s to gather around a handful of tables to celebrate their friends. 

“How did we get here _after_ Scott? He’s always late.” Steve’s voice carried into the backyard. “Didn’t you say the barbeque was at three?”

“Yeah.” Sam could almost hear Bucky shrug. “Maybe he’s finally gotten his act together?”

Whatever Steve was opening his mouth to say died on his lips as he and Bucky stepped through the fence gate and saw the party that awaited them, complete with a _Happy Engagement!_ sign.

“Oh my…” Steve covered his mouth with his hand. His _left_ hand, and Sam could see gold glinting on his fourth finger. 

“Hell yes, our boy is _engaged!”_ He couldn’t help himself and Sam hurried to hug Steve as tight as he could, leaving Bucky to be near-tackled by Tony. “Congrats, Steve.”

Steve squeezed Sam back as tight as he could. “Thanks, Sam.” He laughed, and then laughed harder, hearing Tony talking a mile a minute at Bucky.

“Bucky bear! I knew it. I’m so happy for you. You’re welcome. Dibs on best man. Seriously. I look so good in a tux.”

“Thanks, Tony. And wait, what? I’m welcome for what?”

Tony stepped back, letting Bucky go and smiling seeing Steve and Bucky unconsciously lean towards one another. “Sending you to get coffee on your first day. Obviously.”

“Tony—” Bucky started.

“No! You never would have walked in there without me making you.”

“Tony.” Bucky tried again.

“Seriously! You thought it was pretentious but day one you meet your _soulmate_ because of m—”

“ _Tony_.” Bucky finally got Tony to stop. “Be my best man.”

Steve barely stepped out of the way of the hug Tony crushed Bucky into in response. 

Sam nudged Steve.

“What?”

Sam raised his eyebrows, glancing between Tony and Bucky and he and Steve, but didn’t say anything.

“What?”

Sam cracked a grin. “You’re an ass.”

Steve broke down himself, laughing. “I _obviously_ want you as my best man, Sam. Oh my god. What made you think I wouldn’t ask?”

“I get to officiate.” MJ wasn’t asking. 

Steve looked at Bucky over Tony’s shoulder, who still hadn’t let Bucky go and who Steve was pretty sure was hiding his happy tears. 

“Only if you draw unflattering reaction faces for the entire wedding party.”

“Done.” 

Bucky gave Tony a last squeeze before they separated. “So does this mean we can get to the barbeque part of this surprise party?”

“The burgers are nearly ready!” Thor called from his place by the grill. “And felicitations, my friends! This is a most joyous occasion!”

“…How did I not see him by the grill?” Bucky asked Tony in a whisper. 

“Seriously, don’t start. I don’t know what the hell it is aside from a superpower.”

Bucky nodded, turning instead to wrap an arm around Steve. “What do you say, fiancé, want to go enjoy our surprise party and show off your ring?”

Steve turned his head to respond to Bucky and that’s when Sam saw it. “Is that a _hickey_?!”

Steve shrugged, unapologetic. “We’ve been celebrating.”

“Fine, we’ll show off your ring _and hickey_.” Bucky grinned at Sam before tugging Steve along towards the table MJ and Natasha were sitting at with Scott and Hope.

Sam saw Tony cross his arms and watch them walk away out of the corner of his eye.

“We did good.” Tony observed.

Sam hummed noncommittally. 

“Oh come on, Wilson. We might have played a long game but we are _great_ matchmakers.”

Sam broke, and smiled. “Alright, yeah. Yeah we’re really good at this.”

“Told you I had just the guy for your adorable, hopeless friend.”

“Yeah, well. Right back at you.”

Tony gasped and covered his heart. “Now that’s a comeback.”

“Shut up and bask in our victory, Stark.”

***

“You sure you wanna marry me, jerk?”

Bucky grinned, and couldn’t help but whisper. “That is _not_ how you started your vows.”

Steve just smiled and kept on going. “Because you know I snore, and hog the covers. And I can’t keep my mouth from getting me in trouble.”

“I’m not complaining.” Bucky grinned.

“He’s not finished.” MJ cut in, straight-faced somehow, and looked back to Steve.

“Thanks.” Steve looked back at Bucky, a little shy to be so honest in front of everyone present, but not nervous; never nervous with Bucky there. “I can’t keep my mouth from getting me in trouble and I start more fights than I should. But you _see_ me. You get who I am and love me anyway. I was almost too shy to talk to you and now…” Steve trailed off, staring at Bucky for a few moments. “And now I get to marry you and I’m so happy. And I love you.”

Bucky sniffled. “How dare you make me cry on our wedding day.”

MJ cleared her throat.

“Right.” Bucky grinned, wiped an eye once more, and then looked at Steve. “I haven’t always been sure of myself and I’ve second-guessed myself a lot, mostly about myself. But I was sure of you when I saw how sweet you were, and how able you were to stand up for someone when the needed it. I’ve always been sure of you. You make me feel more sure of myself. And I love you, too.”

Steve wasn’t sure he heard the rest of what MJ said, too busy staring at Bucky. He didn’t miss the part when she announced they were married by the power vested in her by the State of New York and The Internet, though. Or the part where Bucky’s smile got wider, somehow, and Steve leaned up on his toes as Bucky reached out to reel Steve in, kissing him soft and slow and sweet. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The end! I hope you liked this little slice of something happy and light
> 
> For those of you playing along, an Alpomado is a kind of falcon :) 
> 
> Thank you again @LadyAngelique for your incredible art that inspired this story!


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